Ian White out 1-2 Weeks with Fractured Cheekbone

MLive's Ansar Kahn is reporting that Red Wings' defenseman Ian White will miss 1-2 weeks with a fractured cheekbone suffered in Saturday Night's 5-2 victory over the Dallas Stars.

At 8:52 of period three of the game, Detroit was leading the Stars 3-2. A slapshot from the point hit Jimmy Howard and rebounded straight to Jamie Benn at the side of the net. Benn took aim at the open net, but was stifled as Ian White dove across the goalmouth to block the shot. Unfortunately, White's face took the brunt of the wrister and forced Ian White to miss the remainder of the game. Thirty seconds later, Darren Helm added an insurance goal to make it 4-2 and ice the game thanks to White's heroics.

As a result of the injury, the Red Wings have recalled defenseman Brendan Smith from Grand Rapids. Smith still has one game left on a suspension from the preseason which he was given for a hit on Chicago Blackhawks' forward Ben Smith.

Holland says White will be back "once it heals reasonably well", but that he'll need to wear some facial protection. Khan also has information on the roster options for the Wings to make room for Smith:

Holland said the team will place either White or forward Todd Bertuzzi on short-term injured reserve to make room for Smith.

"Bert's starting to feel better, but he hasn't really (practiced) in a week,'' Holland said. "He went on the ice (Thursday) and didn't feel good after skating for a day. We're hoping he can skate on Monday, but it'll take him a while (to be game ready).''

No word yet on what head coach Mike Babcock will do to the defensive pairings going into Tuesday's game in St. Louis. Young and impressive defenseman Jakub Kindl could be moved up to play with team captain Nicklas Lidstrom, leaving Ericsson and Mike Commodore to play the third defensive pairing, or we could see Ericsson moved up to play the more punishment-taking role next to Lidstrom while Commodore moves in to Ericsson's spot doing just that on the third pair.

[Story Update: Per Red Wings press release, the Wings have officially recalled Smith and placed Bertuzzi on seven-day injured reserve.]